Prop. 8 protest block Highway 13

November 9, 2008 4:12:10 PM PST

OAKLAND, CA --

A group of approximately 500 people protesting Proposition 8 temporarily closed the on-ramp and offramp to state Highway 13 at Lincoln Avenue in Oakland Sunday, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

Protesters gathering in the vicinity of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lincoln Avenue caused CHP officers to restrict vehicular traffic to and from the area by closing access to state Highway 13 for almost four hours, CHP officer Ralph Caggiano said.

The ramps were reopened at about 1:45 p.m. when the protesters began to dissipate, Caggiano said.

The event was one of several held throughout the state this weekend in protest of Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriages in California. On Friday, thousands of people marched from San Francisco's United Nations Plaza to Dolores Park.